MEERMAN, GERARD, a learned writer on law, was born at Leyden in 1722, and was early distinguished for his erudition. In 1748 he was nominated pensionary of Rotterdam; and in 1757 he was sent on an embassy to Great Britain. He died at Aix-la-Chapelle in December 1771. The principal works of Gerard Meerman are Novus Thessaurus Juris Civilis et Canonici, in 7 vols. folio, 1751-54; and Origines Typographicae, 4to, 1765. In the latter he attempts to prove that his countryman Lawrence Koster was the inventor of the art of printing. To the former an eighth volume was added by his son.